much addicted,) and are driven like cattle to the rendezvous. Here they undergo a complete metamorphosis; for on their arrival they are in dirty rags which have not the smallest pretensions to be called garments, otherwise than that they answer the purpose of clothing; but they have no sooner been taken into the personal protection of His Highness than they are rigged out afresh, and although the clothing is neither very handsome, nor of the most exquisite workmanship, it is vastly superior to their own. It is surprising how very soon the men become accustomed to this change of circumstances, and by being drilled at the first without mercy, they are soon able to get over their other difficulties. It is amusing to see the delight with which the Arab soldiers assist in pressing others, although perhaps they themselves have only been captured a very few months, and at the time looked upon it as an act of great atrocity. Those men who are destined for sailors are sent on board the large ships immediately, and are marked upon the back of the hand, between the thumb and fore-finger, with an anchor, the arms of the marine. The process of instruction commences immediately, and they are soon taught to go aloft, furl and reef sails, &c.; they are daily exercised at the guns, and in a short time are very adroit. When a new ship is put in commission, drafts of men are taken from the other ships, and thus the Pacha is enabled to man his ships as fast as he can build them. When the Pacha has any difficulty in making up the requisite levy, he sends a body of soldiers into the town, who pick up every Arab they can catch. By this proceeding we often lose our servants, but upon application to the governor of the town, the servants of all the Franks are liberated, and are furnished with a passport to protect them from being seized in future. Now, if such things as these could occur in England, what a sputter would be kicked up by our patriots about Habeas Corpus and rights of the subject. Pressing seamen in England goes on very well so long as they press nobody but sailors; but if the gingerbread-footman of some civic dignity should have the misfortune to be sent to the tender, what a burst of fine sentiment, patriotism, and Mansion-House eloquence we should instantly hear! Besides the troops which we have just spoken of, and which are the regular troops of the line, the Pacha has others that are called irregulars, and most assuredly they richly deserve the name. They are as irregular as it is possible to imagine: they are composed chiefly of Albanians and Candiots as infantry, and Bedouin Arabs for cavalry. I never meet one of these Candiots or Albanians with his long pistols and yattacan, but I feel certain qualms, arising, I think, from the idea I have of the dexterity with which these gentlemen use their weapons, and partly from their being known to possess very little discrimination between quiet, harmless fellows like myself, and people of far more pugnacious propensities. Of all the savage-looking rascals on the face of the earth, these Albanians are the worst; and if there is anything in the science of physiognomy, the appearance of the Bedouins is anything but prepossessing. However, they make excellent skirmishers; and, as Falstaff 66 says, are capital fellows at a retreat." I fear I have been indulging too much in the affairs of the army, and am apprehensive that some of my nautical friends will suspect me of an intention of going a soldiering, or, at the very least, of turning marine. I really have no idea of the sort, but everything must have its turn, and we will now take a view of the dock-yard and arsenal, not that there is anything extraordinary in them themselves, but because they show to what perfection even savages may be brought by the exertions of one man only, during the course of a few years. There is nothing remarkable about the mole, other than that it is remarkably dirty and very rudely constructed. When it was building, they appear to have been most determined not to lay a stone in addition to what was absolutely indispensable; and the same total defiance of architectural regularity exists here, as everywhere else, and consequently it is necessary to keep up the same assiduous system of repairs. In the dock-yard there are ways for building four line-of-battle ships; and there is a fifth sufficiently large for building a corvette or a brig. These ways are all built of the remains of antiquity, and are well and conveniently constructed. The Pacha has always four ships on the stocks, and directly one is launched, another is laid down. He has now building two ships that are to mount 100 guns each, and two others of 80 guns. One of 138 guns was launched a few weeks ago, and will soon be ready for sea. The construction of these vessels is not nearly so strong as that of English ships of war, but they are quite sufficient for the purposes they are destined for. In consequence of the shallowness of the water in the mole, it is necessary to launch all the large ships before they are above half finished, and in consequence they sometimes suffer a severe strain. Nearly all the timber for ship-building is brought from Asia Minor; and as His Highness sends his timber-ships and transports, and helps himself to it, it costs almost nothing. The guns, and a large portion of the shot, are brought from England. It is surprising to see the rapidity with which ships here are built and sent into commission. Eighteen months back, the Pacha had only two line-of-battle ships completed; he has now six in commission, and four upon the stocks building. It is only by means of the immense numbers of people he employs that he gets on thus rapidly; and it is his constant custom, when the fleet is in harbour, to send one-half the crews to work as labourers in the dock-yard. If it was not for the personal presence of the Pacha, things would not go on in this way; for the rest of the Turks are extremely idle, and by no means so zealous as the old man, their master. Whenever a ship is launched, it is a general holiday: the Pacha always attends to witness it; and the moment she touches the water, a general salute is fired from the ships and batteries. The troops assembled on the occasion welcome her with a peal of musketry; and the ceremony is mostly closed by the Pacha making the builder a handsome present. The workshops in the arsenal here are well worthy of inspection. There is scarcely anything which the Pacha has not people to give instruction in to the Arabs, and many of them have attained high perfection as mechanics. In some of the shops they are employed in manufacturing barometers, compasses, binnacles, &c. In others, they are turning brass for the ornamental work of the ship, of which the Turks are great admirers. Here are carpenters, cabinet-makers, upholsterers, joiners, &c., all hard at work, preparing for the fitting up of the ships as soon as they are sufficiently finished. The blacksmiths' and armourers' departments are on an immense scale, and it is astonishing how great a degree of perfection they have attained. Perhaps the most surprising thing of all is, the immense rope works which are here established, and where a great part of the rigging of the ships is manufactured. This department has improved rapidly of late, and will, in a short time, be as good as any in Europe. The Egyptian Navy, at present, consists of six line-of-battle ships, seven large frigates, five corvettes, eight brigs, and a cutter. Besides these, he has six fire-ships, and about thirty transports. The following list will give the names, number of guns, number of men, and the tonnage of each ship. It is necessary to observe, that the ships are named after either towns or districts of country; and the greater part of these names will be found in the map of the Delta. I have now done with the arsenal and dock-yard, and in my next communication shall beg to introduce you to some of our friends and acquaintances here; and we will then proceed together, on the cruise of the last summer. We will go together to Cyprus, and Rhodes, and Candia, and almost up to the Dardanelles; and I have no doubt I shall be able to convince you that our valour is invincible, and our manoeuvring most superb. Our Magnus Apollo, Osman Nureddin Pacha, and our vice-admiral, Muttus Bey, will be the first who will figure in the scene; and if they do not afford instruction, their characters may still be amusing. NOTES ON HYDERABAD AND THE ARMY OF THE NIZAM. IN May, 1829, Nasir-al-Dowlah, the present Nizam, ascended the musnud of Hyderabad, on the death of his father. He, however, met with considerable opposition from Moubaras-al-Dowlah, his brother, who founded his claims to the succession on his priority of birth, being the elder son, though by a Nickah marriage, which, regarded by the Mahomedans as of an inferior sort, is not considered sufficiently sacred to legitimate its offspring. Notwithstanding the fallacy of his pretensions, Moubaras-al-Dowlah availed himself of his extreme popularity in the city of Hyderabad, to raise a powerful party against his brother: in this design he was ably seconded by several powerful somrahs or nobles, whom he had won over by his enterprising and intriguing character; and who either openly joined him with their numerous armed followers, or secretly abetted his treasonable designs. These were much facilitated by the unsettled nature of the government: at all times more or less in this condition, Hyderabad, at this period of fermentation, presented a scene of confusion scarcely to be described. The jarring interests of the somrahs, the discontent of the Seik and Arab troops, employed as mercenaries in the Nizam's service, and whose pay, as is customary with most native powers, had been long kept in arrears, together with that proneness to change, whether for good or evil, so characteristic of the rabble of a large city, bid fair to render Hyderabad a scene of bloodshed and confusion. Moubaras-al-Dowlah failed not to take advantage of this state of things, and by his intrigues succeeded in a few months in raising so powerful a party against his brother, that the latter, alarmed for his personal safety, was fain to apply for the interference of Mr. Martin, the British resident at this court. After several ineffectual attempts to induce Moubaras to listen to the dictates of reason, and dismiss his refractory retainers, it was at last resolved to effect by coercion what could not be obtained by persuasion. The whole of the Hyderabad subsidiary force was accordingly ordered out, and invested that part of the city occupied by the rebels, as they might justly be termed. The subsidiary force, under Colonel Campbell, C.B. of the 46th regiment, consisted of the following corps:-The 5th light cavalry ; his Majesty's 46th regiment; the Madras rifle corps; the 8th, 43d, and 52d regiments of native infantry; together with a troop of horse, and a battalion of foot artillery, amounting in all to between three and four thousand men these were reinforced by the Madras European regiment, which, at that time on its way to Nagpore, was ordered to join the force then encamped before Hyderabad. Unwilling, even now, to proceed to extremities, which would necessarily have involved the ruin of Hyderabad, every means was employed by the Resident to induce Moubaras-al-Dowlah to recognize his brother's authority, and to surrender himself to his power, thereby avoiding that effusion of blood which might for a short time retard, though it could not eventually prevent, his downfall. He, however, for some time remained deaf to both threats and remonstrances, and mani fested a determination to defend himself to the last. We had till now fancied that all would end in smoke, or rather without it; however, Moubaras' obstinacy was beginning to give us some expectation of seeing the interior of the city, and we were already discussing our chance of a peep at some of the black-eyed beauties of the seraglios, or that of securing some Bahadur's Kattaywar horse,-when an order directing us to be under arms by one, P.M., and naming the storming party, gave a fresh stimulus to our hopes. The town was merely defended by loopholed walls, which could be levelled in half an hour. A gun fired at the appointed time was to be the signal of attack: the artillery had been brought to bear on that point which it was intended to breach, the matches were lit,-and we were getting our swords sharpened, and pistols ready, for the eventful moment,-when Moubaras' courage failed, and he consented to give himself up and be imprisoned in the fort of Golcondah, provided he were allowed to take his treasures with him. These terms were acceded to, and we returned to cantonments, not a little dissatisfied at the pacific conclusion of our campaign; from which, at one time, we had been led to hope far different results. The overthrow of Moubaras-al-Doulah allowed the Nizam to relapse into that state of indolence from which he had of late been obliged to rouse himself. He returned to his zenanah, surrounded by his women, of whom he had even formed a guard *, and entirely resigned the reins of government into the hands of his ministers, Mounier-al-Moolk and Chundoo Lall. The former, though nominally the first minister, leaves the entire management of affairs to Chundoo Lall, a Hindoo, but whose talents have, for many years enabled him to keep his precarious post at the head of a state subject to almost daily change. It is hinted that his subserviency to the Company has not a little contributed to maintain him thus long in power, and that he is completely devoted to the British interests. Be this as it may, it is tolerably evident that the once-powerful state of Hyderabad is allowed merely to exist on sufferance; and will probably, on the first favourable opportunity, be annexed to the Company's territories. The state of the Nizam's army adds to his dependence on the Company. It consists of three distinct bodies of men: his regular forces, the irregulars, and the foreigners employed in his service. The former consist of several battalions of infantry, some artillery, and a few russalahs, or bodies of horse. They are all officered by Europeans, or by men of European extraction; the former being principally, likewise, in the Company's service. These troops are disciplined in the European manner; and, with the exception of the cavalry, are paid, armed, and These Amazons, forming the guard of the zenanah, or seraglio, are under a state of military discipline, can go through the manual and platoon exercises, and the general movements of Company drill. The following ludicrous circumstance occurred some time ago, on the visit of an European officer, whose curiosity had been excited to see this female prætorian band: he observed with astonishment that the big drummer, or rather the beater of the big drum, had her instrument suspended behind, instead of having it in the usual position, and was in this attitude hammering away with great execution; on inquiring the reason of this singularity, he was very gravely informed that it was merely occasioned by the gallant drummer being at that time enceinte. U.S. JOURN. No. 60, Nov. 1833. |